109-568: USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) is an Independence -class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy . The ship is named after former United States Representative Gabby Giffords , who was shot along with eighteen other people during a 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona . The ship's name was announced by then- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on 10 February 2012. Gabrielle Giffords
218-593: A towed array with its handling system. The Navy originally ordered two Independence -class littoral combat ships, the lead ship Independence (LCS-2) and Coronado (LCS-4), named in March 2009 by then- Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter , with odd numbers being used for Freedom -class littoral combat ships. On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it would be ordering up to ten additional Independence -class ships, for
327-407: A catamaran and a monohull. The high-speed cruise ship project evolved into Austal's commercial high-speed trimaran ferry HSC Benchijigua Express . The ships are 127.4 m (418 ft) long, with a beam of 31.6 m (104 ft), and a draft of 13 ft (3.96 m). Their displacement is rated at 2,377 tons light, 3,228 tons full, and 851 tons deadweight . The standard ship's company
436-462: A decision a number of years ago. ... In order to give capability to LCS 5 and beyond, particularly the block buys we did in 2015, we decided we needed to do much more testing and use those first four hulls, so that we could better understand what were the issues with respect to hull maintenance and engineering that kept plaguing us and kept us from getting those ships to sea. ... We used those first hulls to test and we put no money into upgrading them like
545-399: A default armament for self-defense, and command and control. Unlike traditional fighting ships with fixed armament such as guns and missiles, tailored mission modules can be configured for one mission package at a time. Modules may consist of manned aircraft, unmanned vehicles, off-board sensors, or mission-manning detachments. The interior volume and payload is greater than some destroyers and
654-658: A diplomatic complaint to the US for trespassing on its territory. In competition year 2004, Carl Vinson won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award , awarded to the most battle-ready ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet . In January 2005, Carl Vinson departed Bremerton, Washington with CVW-9 embarked for a Seven-month deployment, including several months in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom & Operation Enduring Freedom. Highlights of
763-678: A dock and would have allowed the ship to transport the since-cancelled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle . The Raytheon SeaRAM missile defense system is installed on the hangar roof. The SeaRAM combines the sensors of the Phalanx 1B close-in weapon system with an 11-missile launcher for the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile , creating an autonomous system. The Independence -class ships also have an integrated LOS Mast, Sea Giraffe 3D Radar and SeaStar Safire FLIR. Northrop Grumman has demonstrated sensor fusion of on and off-board systems in
872-642: A documentary entitled Carrier: Fortress at Sea was aired on the Discovery Channel , which chronicled the carrier's six-month-long voyage to and from the Persian Gulf. From 26 August until 3 September 1995, Carl Vinson participated in Exercise Ke Koa , as well as ceremonies to commemorate the end of World War II in the Pacific . During these ceremonies, President Bill Clinton visited the ship in Hawaii. As part of
981-466: A four-month shipyard maintenance period at Northrop Grumman Newport News in preparation for her upcoming transit to the Pacific in the spring. The ship was scheduled to transit around South America to her new home at NAS North Island , San Diego, joining sister-carriers USS CVN-68 and USS CVN-76 , by early 2010. On 12 January 2010, just hours after the 2010 Haiti earthquake , Carl Vinson
1090-398: A million pounds (230 tons) of ordnance against ISIS. On 14 August 2015, Carl Vinson began a planned incremental availability (PIA) period at Naval Air Station North Island . The ship received more than $ 300 million worth of improvements over six months during this modernisation, including the first UAV command center installed aboard an aircraft carrier. In 2016, Carrier Air Wing Two
1199-564: A much smaller and slower trimaran, called the 'Multi Role Vessel' (MRV 80). Though it is only half the size of their LCS design, it would still be useful for border protection and counter piracy operations. Austal unsuccessfully entered the FFG(X) competition for the US Navy's new class of 20 frigates, unveiling a larger more heavily armed design called the "Austal Frigate" in April 2017. Their Frigate design
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#17328555954851308-559: A number of notable events. The body of Osama bin Laden was buried at sea in 2011 from the deck of Carl Vinson , and that same year, on Veterans Day , she played host to the first NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier , between North Carolina and Michigan State . A member of the United States House of Representatives for 50 years, Carl Vinson was, for 29 years, the Chairman of
1417-458: A payload of 600 pounds (270 kg) out to an operational radius of 600–900 nautical miles (1,100–1,700 km). First flight of a TERN demonstrator is expected in 2017. The trimaran hull will allow flight operations up to sea state 5. Austal USA vice president Craig Hooper has responded to critics of the class's light armament by suggesting that the ships employ long range drones instead. On 8 March 2017, Detroit successfully test fired
1526-597: A perceived trend toward naming ships for political reasons. Some commentators, including retired Commander Darlene Iskra , the first woman to command a U.S. Navy vessel, and Robert Farley, professor at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and military affairs scholar, noted in response that several ships in the US Navy, including Henry M. Jackson , Carl Vinson , John C. Stennis , Jimmy Carter , Ronald Reagan , and George Bush were named for prominent politicians who were still alive at
1635-420: A piece of concrete from the skull of a 12-year-old earthquake victim in an operation performed aboard Carl Vinson on 18 January. In addition to providing medical relief, the ship's excess desalination capacity was critical to providing water to Haiti's population during the earthquake relief. In March 2010, during her transit around South America performed Gringo-Gaucho / Southern Seas 2010 maneuvers with
1744-545: A scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. USS Bunker Hill , Destroyer Squadron 1 and its ships USS Gridley , USS Sterett , and USS Dewey deployed with the carrier as part of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group (CSG). The carrier was deployed to the Persian Gulf to relieve USS George H. W. Bush in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and
1853-507: A total of 12 ships in the class. On 25 March 2011, then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the names of the third and fourth Independence -class ships, Jackson (LCS-6) and Montgomery (LCS-8) , during a press conference in Mobile, Alabama. In February 2012, Secretary Mabus announced that the fifth ship of the class will be named Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) , and
1962-523: A tribute to Navy families, stating that Giffords was a "Navy spouse" who made efforts to support the Navy during her time in Congress. Giffords is married to Captain Mark Kelly (Ret.), a former naval aviator and astronaut . The media reported that some former military members, including retired U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps officers, were criticizing the decision to name the ship after Giffords as part of
2071-583: A vertical-launched AGM-114 Hellfire missile, the first such launch from a littoral combat ship. The Hellfire system on littoral combat ships is meant to engage smaller agile vessels and strike targets on land. In late July 2014, the US Navy confirmed that the Naval Strike Missile would be tested aboard the littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) . The test occurred successfully on 24 September 2014. Kongsberg and Raytheon teamed to pitch
2180-481: Is 40, although this can increase depending on the ship's role with mission-specific personnel. The habitability area with bunks is located under the bridge. The helm is controlled by joysticks instead of traditional steering wheels. Although the trimaran hull increases the total surface area, it is still able to reach sustainable speeds of about 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph), with a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi). Austal claims that
2289-514: Is a class of littoral combat ships built for the United States Navy . The hull design evolved from a project at Austal to design a high speed, 40-knot-cruise ship. That hull design evolved into the high-speed trimaran ferry HSC Benchijigua Express and the Independence class was then proposed by General Dynamics and Austal as a contender for Navy plans to build a fleet of smaller, agile, multipurpose warships to operate nearshore in
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#17328555954852398-424: Is also changed into a more simplified two-crew "blue/gold" model, like that used on submarines and minesweepers, where ships cycle to forward deployed locations with the two crews swapping roles every 4–5 months; aviation detachments will also deploy with the same LCS crew, creating an arrangement of a core 70-sailor crew to conduct the warfare mission and a 23-person air detachment. The Independence class carries
2507-447: Is carried on each ship in order to move mission containers. In addition to cargo or container-sized mission modules, the bay can carry four lanes of multiple Strykers , armored Humvees , and their associated troops. An elevator allows air transport of packages the size of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) shipping container that can be moved into the mission bay while at sea. A side access ramp allows for vehicle roll-on/roll-off loading to
2616-454: Is not required to perform Mine Counter Measures (MCM), which will continue to be handled by the LCS. The vessels will retain a degree of modularity to concentrate on one mission set and will still have mission bays, although they may be reduced. SSC vessels are planned to begin procurement by 2019, and it is being investigated if the enhancements can be added to existing LCS hulls. Austal has proposed
2725-498: Is sufficient to serve as a high-speed transport and maneuver platform. The mission bay is 15,200 square feet (1,410 m ), and takes up most of the deck below the hangar and flight deck. With 11,000 cubic metres (390,000 cu ft) of payload volume, it was designed with enough payload and volume to carry out one mission with a separate mission module in reserve, allowing the ship to do multiple missions without having to be refitted. One Mobicon Flexible Container Handling System
2834-544: Is the 16th U.S. naval ship to be named for a woman by the United States Navy, and the 13th U.S. naval ship since 1850 to be named after a living person . Construction on Gabrielle Giffords began with her keel laying on 16 April 2014, at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. Rep. Giffords, still recovering from injuries sustained in the 2011 assassination attempt, attended the ship's keel-laying ceremony, and with
2943-470: The Argentine Navy . On 12 April 2010, the carrier arrived at her new home port of Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego California. On 30 November 2010, with Carrier Air Wing Seventeen embarked, Carl Vinson departed Naval Air Station North Island for a three-week composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) and her 2010–2011 deployment to the U.S. Seventh Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) in
3052-574: The Chief of Naval Operations named Carl Vinson the winner of the Admiral James H. Flatley Memorial Award for operational readiness and aviation safety for 1984. On 12 August 1986, the ship departed Alameda for a western Pacific deployment, again with CVW-15 aboard, and in the process became the first modern U.S. aircraft carrier to operate in the Bering Sea . In January 1987, after operating extensively in
3161-812: The Disney / Pixar movie Cars 2 are Independence-class. USS Carl Vinson 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Launchers USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is the United States Navy 's third Nimitz -class supercarrier . She is named for Carl Vinson (1883–1981), a congressman from Georgia , in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Navy. The ship was launched during Vinson's lifetime in 1980, undertook her maiden voyage in 1983, and underwent refueling and overhaul between 2005 and 2009. Along with deployments in Operation Desert Strike , Operation Iraqi Freedom , Operation Southern Watch , and Operation Enduring Freedom , Carl Vinson has been involved in
3270-509: The Freedom class, the Independence vessels will be getting axial flow water jets which pushes water parallel to the shaft of the impeller to improve efficiency and reduce maintenance; they will also be upgraded to handle the horsepower provided by the gas turbine propulsion system. A winch control system will modulate the motion of the anchor to reduce the reliance on manual hand brakes. The mission bay side door will be redesigned for reliability and
3379-459: The Independence class Coronado and three Freedom class ships, Fort Worth , Detroit , and Little Rock . All four ships would be placed Out of Commission in Reserve and retained as reactivation candidates. USS Independence appears in the Discovery Channel documentary Inside: A 21st Century Warship , which also features USS Freedom (LCS-1) . The lemons' war ships in
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3488-503: The Independence -class ships makes them more vulnerable to damage than the Freedom -class ships. The first ships of both LCS classes were delivered before the designs were mature so that improvements could be built into future ships. The Navy is improving the Independence class with bridge wings for safety and replacing the 5.1-metre (17 ft) Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) with a 7-metre (23 ft) boat. An improved cathodic protection system will enhance corrosion protection. Like
3597-609: The Independence -class trimaran design, while odd-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the conventional monohull Freedom -class littoral combat ship . The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence -class design. On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence -class littoral combat ships. After commissioning, Gabrielle Giffords conducted qualification trials on her official maiden voyage from Texas to her home port of San Diego, California via
3706-535: The Panama Canal , arriving at Naval Base San Diego on 5 July 2017. She has been assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One . During summer 2019 the ship was equipped with MQ-8C Fire Scout drones and Naval Strike Missiles and from September deployed in an offensive role in the seas off China. She returned to San Diego in January 2021. Independence-class littoral combat ship The Independence class
3815-689: The Philippines from 15 to 18 May 2011 for a "routine port call and goodwill visit" meant to "highlight the strong historic, community, and military connections between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines." Among those given a special tour of this aircraft carrier were Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas, Jr. This brief visit
3924-565: The Tucson shooting by naming LCS-10 after the Arizonan city of Tucson, consistent with current naming conventions for littoral combat ships to honor U.S. cities, this was not possible because USS Tucson , an active Los Angeles -class submarine , currently bears the name. After the ship's 2015 christening, military-focused newspaper Stars and Stripes said that criticism of the ship's naming had become "muted", possibly due to recognition that
4033-530: The Western Pacific . Carrier Air Wing 15 was embarked. From January until April 1985, Carl Vinson was in the Indian Ocean for 107 consecutive days. The WESTPAC deployment included Sea of Japan operations while pursuing a Soviet Charlie I class submarine in the Indian Ocean. The carrier received her first Meritorious Unit Commendation for operations conducted from November 1984 to May 1985. In February,
4142-448: The littoral zone . Initially two ships were approved, to compete with Lockheed Martin 's Freedom -class design. Despite initial plans to only build ships of the winner out of the two competing Independence or Freedom classes, in 2010 the Navy announced plans to order up to ten additional ships of each class, for a total 12 ships per class. In March 2016 the Navy announced their intention to order an additional two ships, increasing
4251-421: The 'enemy' carrier and 'sank' her. Onslow closed to within 300 meters (980 ft) without being detected, then released green flares to indicate her location, 'sinking' the supercarrier. Carl Vinson then departed for the Persian Gulf, launching airstrikes on 19 December 1998 in support of Operation Desert Fox and Operation Southern Watch. These strikes continued into March 1999. In July 1999, Carl Vinson
4360-510: The 10-vessel contract). In September 2016, Secretary Mabus announced the name of the next ship, Mobile (LCS-26) . On 26 June 2017, Austal announced the order to build the fourteenth Independence -class vessel with a congressional cost cap of $ 584 million. On 8 October 2017 Austal announced the order for LCS-30, the fifteenth ship of the class, to be built at a cost under the congressional cost cap of $ 584 million. On 13 February 2018, Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer announced
4469-623: The ASW module in FY2016. Module changes were envisioned to allow a single LCS to change roles in a matter of hours at any commercial port allowing it to rapidly optimize effectiveness against a threat. A report from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations ( OPNAV ) on a January 2012 sustainment wargame reportedly stated that, possibly for logistics reasons, the mission module changes may take as long as weeks, and that in
USS Gabrielle Giffords - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-519: The American subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal) was approved by the Navy, with a contract for two vessels. These would then be compared to two ships built by Lockheed Martin to determine which design would be taken up by the Navy for a production run of up to 55 ships. The first ship, Independence was laid down at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama , on 19 January 2006. The planned second ship
4687-970: The East Coast. Carl Vinson departed Norfolk on 1 March 1983 with Carrier Air Wing 15 embarked for her maiden deployment, an eight-month, around-the-world cruise that had them operate in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, South China Sea , and Pacific Ocean in a multitude of exercises and with port visits in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Casablanca, Morocco, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Perth, Australia, Subic Bay, Philippines, Hong Kong, Sasebo, Japan, Pusan, Republic of Korea, and Pearl Harbor , Hawaii, before arriving in her new homeport of Naval Air Station Alameda , California, arriving on 28 October 1983. Carl Vinson participated in RIMPAC '84 before departing on 14 October 1984 for an overseas deployment in
4796-611: The House Naval Affairs and Armed Services Committee; Vinson was the principal sponsor of the so-called "Vinson Acts", culminating in the Two-Ocean Navy Act of 1940, which provided for the massive naval shipbuilding effort in World War II. The seal of USS Carl Vinson shows an eagle, wings spread and talons extended, carrying a banner in its beak. The eagle is emblematic of the nation and the ship's motto, and also represents
4905-559: The Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea , Carl Vinson transited the Bering Sea once more while returning to NAS Alameda. Carl Vinson and CVW-15 departed for the ship's fourth overseas deployment on 15 June 1988. While on station, the carrier supported Operation Earnest Will , the escort of U.S. flagged tankers in the Persian Gulf . The carrier returned to the States on 16 December 1988 and
5014-573: The Integrated Combat Management System (ICMS) used on the LCS. The vessels have an Interior Communications Center that can be curtained off from the rest of bridge instead of the heavily protected Combat Information Center found on other Navy warships. Side and forward surfaces are angled for reduced radar profile. The Fleet-class unmanned surface vessel is designed for operations from Independence -class ships. The flight deck, 1,030 m (11,100 sq ft), can support
5123-707: The Korean theatre. On 3 July 2003, five F/A-18 Hornets from the Carl Vinson were intercepted by F-16s from the Indonesian Air Force near Bawean Island over the Java Sea where they engaged in a dogfight and electronic warfare. Carl Vinson and her strike group were transiting through the Java Sea and had sought permission from Indonesia. However, Indonesia denied receiving any request for permission. Later, Indonesia filed
5232-554: The LCS. OPEN CI includes the information technology (IT) infrastructure for the combat and seaframe control systems. This IT infrastructure also includes the primary operator interface for the control and monitoring of mission module operations. The General Dynamics OPEN CI is also used on the Austal-built Spearhead -class Joint High Speed Vessel . After the lead ship of the class suffered from aggressive disintegration due to galvanic corrosion , Austal has made changes to
5341-739: The Levant . On 11 September 2014 at 17:40 hrs local time, two F/A-18Cs from CVW-17 crashed in the western Pacific Ocean whilst operating from Carl Vinson . The carrier was in her area of operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The planes were attached to Strike Squadron 94 and Strike Fighter Squadron 113 and collided 7 miles (11 km) from the carrier, an area approximately 290 miles (470 km) west of Wake Island. USS Bunker Hill , USS Gridley , USS Sterett , USS Dewey , and helicopters assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 15 (HSC 15) and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 (HSM 73) assisted in
5450-560: The NSM to equip the LCS as its over-the-horizon anti-ship missile in 2015. By May 2017, the extended-range Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon and Lockheed Martin LRASM had been withdrawn from the Navy's Over-the-Horizon Weapon System (OTH-WS) competition, leaving the NSM as the only remaining contender. On 31 May 2018, the Navy officially selected the NSM to serve as the LCS' OTH anti-ship weapon. The $ 14.8 million initial contract award to Raytheon calls for
5559-459: The Navy John F. Lehman , keynote speaker Senator John Tower , and ship's sponsor Molly Snead, who was Vinson's nurse for 34 years. After commissioning, Carl Vinson put to sea to conduct flight deck certifications, an evaluation designed to test the ship's ability to conduct modern US Navy carrier air operations . That was followed by numerous at sea periods for various training evolutions along
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#17328555954855668-422: The Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence -class littoral combat ships. On 10 February 2012, Naval Secretary Ray Mabus announced that LCS-10, the fifth Independence -class ship to be built, would be named USS Gabrielle Giffords . Secretary Mabus also announced that the ship's sponsor would be Roxanna Green, the mother of Christina-Taylor Green, age 9, who
5777-527: The Navy announced that two additional Independence -class ships have been ordered with hull numbers LCS-36, and LCS-38. During planning for the FY21 Budget proposal , Navy recommended the decommissioning of hulls 1–4 in 2021, some 10 years ahead of prior planning. This was explained by Chief of Naval Operations , Admiral Mike Gilday , during the WEST Conference on 2 March 2020, when he said: We made
5886-415: The Navy asked that Congress approve ten of each of the Independence and Freedom classes. The Independence -class design began life at Austal as a platform for a high-speed cruise ship . The principal requirements of that project were speed, stability and passenger comfort, and Austal's team determined that the trimaran hull form offered significant passenger comfort and stability advantages over both
5995-423: The Navy confirmed it would decommission the first two littoral combat ships in 2021. On 29 July 2021, the Navy decommissioned Independence . Freedom was decommissioned on 29 September 2021. Both ships will join the reserve fleet. In June 2021, the Navy released an abbreviated long-range shipbuilding report to Congress, which included ships planned to be decommissioned during fiscal year 2022. This included
6104-655: The Navy opted to keep the 57 mm gun, not add a VLS, and chose to add an upgraded 3-D radar. Other changes included installation of an unspecified over-the-horizon missile, Mark 38 25 mm guns , a torpedo countermeasures system, a multifunction towed array system, installation of a SeaRAM launcher (on the Freedom class), an upgraded countermeasures decoy system, an upgraded electronic warfare system, armor added to vital spaces, and improved signature management. The SSC will focus on Surface Warfare (SUW) and Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) with these additions, as well as retaining all other features of their mission packages. The SSC
6213-667: The North Arabian Sea , where on 7 October 2001, Carl Vinson launched the first airstrikes in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . For 72 days, Carl Vinson , along with Carrier Wing 11 , launched over 4,000 combat sorties in the Global War on Terrorism , earning the ship the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Carl Vinson earned the Battle E and Navy Unit Commendation during this deployment. In mid December, Carl Vinson began
6322-559: The Pacific Ocean. Carl Vinson had a port call in Pusan , South Korea, and then returned to her home port of Alameda shortly after the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . Carl Vinson departed on her fifth deployment (again with CVW-15) on 1 February 1990, the last deployment for the A-7 Corsair . The ship returned to Alameda on 30 July 1990. On 22 September 1990, Carl Vinson entered
6431-669: The Tar Heels defeated the Spartans by a score of 67–55. On 30 November 2011, Carl Vinson departed Naval Air Station North Island , California, on her scheduled Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment. During January 2012, Carl Vinson began her patrol of the Arabian Sea. On 23 May 2012, Carl Vinson returned to Naval Air Station North Island , California, to end her November 2011 deployment. The carrier had stopped earlier in Hawaii to pick up approximately 900 "Tigers" – friends and family of
6540-410: The US Navy announced that all four would be taken out of commission in March 2021, and will be placed in inactive reserve, because it would be too expensive to upgrade them to match the later ships in the class. Planning for a class of smaller, agile, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone began in the early 2000s. In July 2003, a proposal by General Dynamics (partnering with Austal USA,
6649-485: The Western Pacific and U.S. Fifth Fleet Areas of Responsibility in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf as part of Carrier Strike Group One. This is the first Western Pacific deployment for Carl Vinson in more than five years since the ship entered her Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) in late 2005. On 11 April 2011 while operating in the Arabian Sea, an F/A-18 Hornet suffered an engine fire immediately after launch from
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#17328555954856758-515: The affected ships, Omaha , was under speed and sea state restrictions. In December 2014, the Navy's recommendation to base the Small Surface Combatant on upgraded versions of both Independence and Freedom LCSs was accepted. The SSC is an attempt by the Navy to increase the LCS' firepower and protection. Although Austal submitted improvements including vertical launch systems, 76 mm guns, and advanced combat systems and sensors,
6867-483: The assistance of an Austal welder, welded her initials into a plate that would become part of the ship's hull. Gabrielle Giffords was launched, and then moved from her construction facility to drydock, on 26 February 2015. The ship was christened in a ceremony held at the Austal USA shipyard on 13 June 2015, and Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden served as ship sponsor at the christening. The ship
6976-532: The carrier. The aircraft returned to the carrier with one engine and the fire was extinguished without any damage to the ship or any injuries to the pilot or ship crew members. On 2 May 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden , his body was brought aboard Carl Vinson , which was operating in the Northern Arabian Sea , and buried at sea following religious rites . The ship docked in Manila Bay in
7085-406: The class, USS Independence . Even-numbered U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Independence -class trimaran design, while odd-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the conventional hull Freedom -class littoral combat ship . The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence -class design. On 29 December 2010,
7194-418: The coast of Hawaii. On 23 July 2001, Carl Vinson steamed from Bremerton, Washington to San Diego, California, where CVW-11 airgroup once again embarked, then was bound for the Persian Gulf to support Operation Southern Watch . This changed abruptly on 11 September 2001, as the ship was rounding the tip of India. In response to the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, Carl Vinson changed course and sped toward
7303-477: The commemoration ceremonies, Carl Vinson launched 11 World War II-era planes. The ship departed for her seventh deployment 14 May 1996, heading for the Persian Gulf with CVW-14 in support for Operation Southern Watch and Operation Desert Strike . The ship also participated in Exercise Rugged Nautilus before returning to Alameda on 14 November 1996. With the closing of Naval Air Station Alameda ,
7412-703: The crew. Completing her maintenance and overhaul period in record-setting time, Carl Vinson and crew got underway in September to conduct sea trials. In January 2003 she was set for a one-month work up for Flight Deck Quals with Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9) embarked. Due to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom the ship was extended at sea indefinitely. From January 2003 until September 2003, she made port calls in Hawaii, Guam, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. After nine months, Carl Vinson finally returned to Bremerton on 15 September 2003. Carl Vinson participated in Foal Eagle , an annually scheduled joint and combined training exercise conducted in
7521-424: The cruise included port calls to Singapore, Guam , Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Rhodes, Greece and Lisbon, Portugal . Carl Vinson ended this deployment at Naval Station Norfolk on 31 July 2005. During this deployment two Marine F-18 pilots were lost over Iraq. In November 2005, Carl Vinson became the third Nimitz -class carrier to undergo a mid-life Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), which
7630-554: The delivery of Kongsberg-designed "encanistered missiles loaded into launching mechanisms; and a single fire control suite," and buys about a dozen missiles; the entire contract value could grow to $ 847.6 million if all contract options are exercised. The NSM will be designated as the RGM-184A in US service. The control system for this class is provided by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems through an open architecture computing infrastructure (OPEN CI), while Lockheed provides their own control system for their variant of
7739-437: The design will use a third less fuel than the competing Freedom class, but the Congressional Budget Office found that fuel would account for 18 percent or less of the total lifetime cost of Freedom . The lack of bridge wings on the Independence class had been noted as the top problem in the entire LCS program to the extent that these will need to be retrofitted onto existing ships. The lightweight aluminum construction of
7848-466: The filming along with the actors and film crews. Later, prior to commencement of Operation Enduring Freedom, David Keith returned to Carl Vinson on station in the North Arabian Sea to present the first international viewing of Behind Enemy Lines to the combined ship and air wing crew. Prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf, Carl Vinson (CVN-70) was on a roughly four week carrier quals mission off
7957-529: The flagship of the newly established Carrier Strike Group One (CSG1), based in San Diego. The ship, under the command of then Captain Bruce H. Lindsey , departed Norfolk for San Diego on 12 January 2010. Accompanying the carrier was Carrier Air Wing Seventeen , Destroyer Squadron 1 and the guided missile cruiser Bunker Hill . The keel was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding on 11 October 1975, and on 15 March 1980
8066-517: The following July. On 1 April 2015, the Navy awarded build contracts for LCS-22 and LCS-24 to Austal USA. On 20 July 2015, at a Kansas City Royals baseball game being played at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, Secretary Mabus and Mayor Sly James announced the name of Kansas City (LCS-22) . On 20 August 2015, Secretary Mabus announced that the twelfth ship would be named Oakland (LCS-24) . On 31 March 2016, Austal announced
8175-457: The future the navy plans to use LCS ships with a single module, with module changes being a rare occurrence. In 2014, Independence switched from countermine to surface warfare modes in 96 hours on short notice. In an 8 September 2016 announcement, the Navy revealed a radical change in operations and organization plans for the LCS. Of the 28 Flight 0 ships built or on order, the first four, two of each class, will be turned into training ships and
8284-534: The name of LCS-28 as Savannah , and on 23 February 2018, President Donald Trump announced the name of LCS-30 as Canberra . On 18 September 2018, the Navy announced that two additional Independence -class ships, and one Freedom -class ship, have been ordered, with hull numbers LCS-32, LCS-34 and LCS-29 respectively. On 10 October 2018, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer announced the names of LCS-29 as Beloit , for Beloit, Wisconsin and LCS-32 as Santa Barbara , for Santa Barbara, California . On 16 December 2018,
8393-456: The operation of two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles , or one CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. H-60 series helicopters provide airlift, rescue, anti-submarine, radar picket and anti-ship capabilities with torpedoes and missiles. DARPA 's Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program aims to build a Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) that can operate from LCS-2 and can carry
8502-426: The order to 13 ships of each class. It was announced in early September 2016 that the first four vessels of the LCS program would be used as test ships rather than being deployed with the fleet. This includes lead ship Independence and Coronado . As of May 2019 , nine ships have been commissioned. In February 2020 it was announced that the Navy plans to retire the first four LCS ships. On 20 June 2020,
8611-400: The order to build the thirteenth Independence -class vessel with a congressional cost cap of $ 564 million, which had been placed as an option under Austal's existing 10-vessel block-buy contract. LCS-26 will be the eleventh vessel built under that contract and the thirteenth Independence -class vessel overall (the first two ships, Independence and Coronado were built prior to award of
8720-553: The platform lift elevator reconfigured to better handle weapons and ordnance. The LCS is reconfigured for various roles by changing mission packages, each of which includes mission module equipment (weapon systems, sensors, etc.), carried craft and mission crews. Modules include Anti-submarine warfare (ASW), mine countermeasures (MCM), surface warfare (SUW), and special warfare missions. The MCM and SUW modules are planned to reach initial operating capability in Fiscal year 2014, and
8829-656: The port gas turbine saw the order of trials altered, but builder's and acceptance trials were completed by November, and although her first INSURV inspection revealed 2,080 deficiencies, these were rectified in time for the ship to be handed over to the Navy in mid-December, and commissioned in mid-January 2010. Navy leaders said that the fixed price competition offered the Austal design an equal shot, in spite of its excess size, cost and limited service. After much inconsistency on how testing and orders were to proceed, in November 2010,
8938-509: The power that resides in the ship's aircraft. The eagle flies in the form of a stylized letter "V," the initial of the ship's namesake, Congressman Carl Vinson. The "V" also represents the ship's hull when viewed bow-on. Inscribed on the banner that the eagle carries is the Latin phrase " Vis Per Mare " which means "Strength through the Sea". In October 2009, the US Navy announced that Carl Vinson would be
9047-425: The remaining 24 will be divided into six divisions of four ships each; three divisions of the Freedom class based at Naval Station Mayport , Florida and three divisions of the Independence class based at Naval Station San Diego , California. The new organization does away with the LCS' signature interchangeable mission module concept, with each division being tasked to fulfill one of the three mission sets. Crewing
9156-495: The remaining ships in the class. Coronado will have "new anti-corrosion surface treatments", and Jackson will have "an array of tested corrosion-management tools and processes". On 10 May 2022, it was reported that six of the Navy's fleet of 13 Independence class LCS suffered from hull cracks above the waterline where the deck plate and shell plate join. The cracks may develop if the ships travel faster than 15 knots in seas with maximum wave heights of about eight feet. The issue
9265-477: The rest of the fleet. ... Those first four ships are not bringing lethality to the fight. ... I just didn't see the return on investment. There was also a comment that it would cost another $ 2 billion to get the first four hulls prepped for sea duty. On 20 June 2020, the US Navy announced that they would be taking Independence out of commission in March 2021, and placing her, along with Freedom , Fort Worth , and Coronado in reserve. In May 2021,
9374-702: The return trip home, briefly stopping in Pearl Harbor Hawaii to commence a "Tiger Cruise" allowing crew member family members the opportunity to ride the ship to her homeport of Bremerton, Washington, arriving there on 23 January 2002. In April, the ship was overhauled, setting sail in September for a post-refit shakedown. During this time several new operational systems were installed, and the ship's flight deck and catapults were completely renovated. Numerous other spaces and crew living areas were also entirely restored, drastically improving working and living conditions for
9483-478: The sailors aboard the ship who traveled with the ship from Hawaii to San Diego. On 5 July 2012, Carl Vinson began preparations for a Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) period. PIA is a major maintenance phase that all American naval vessels must go through multiple times throughout their lifetime to be able to sustain underway operations. PIA 2012–2013 for Carl Vinson included overhauls of over 40 crew living spaces, 30 heads and hundreds of workspaces throughout
9592-516: The search for the pilots. Whilst one pilot was recovered alive soon after the crash, the second pilot could not be located. The Navy continued its search for the second pilot until 13 September 2014, when the search was abandoned. Carl Vinson returned to San Diego on 4 June 2015. Over the course of the deployment, supporting strike operations in Iraq and Syria, CVW-17 successfully flew 12,300 sorties, including 2,382 combat missions and dropped more than half
9701-417: The ship was launched/ christened . Congressman Carl Vinson became the first person in the history of the United States Navy to witness a ship's launching in his honor. After builder sea trials , she was delivered to the Navy on 26 February 1982. USS Carl Vinson was commissioned on 13 March 1982 at Newport News, Virginia. Present were the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas B. Hayward , Secretary of
9810-575: The ship was transferred to Bremerton, Washington , arriving at her new homeport on 17 January 1997, where she played host to the last carrier launch and recovery operations for the A-6E Intruder . In 1998 with Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11) embarked, the ship participated in RIMPAC '98. During the exercise on the morning of 10 August, the Australian diesel-electric submarine HMAS Onslow located
9919-449: The ship's commanding officer, then Captain Kent D. Whalen , announced on 2 February 2013 that PIA had officially ended, marking the first on-time PIA completion since 1999. Since February 2013, the ship has been underway multiple times conducting carrier qualifications with Carrier Air Wing Seventeen as well as multiple crew certification exercises. The most recent accomplishment for Carl Vinson
10028-508: The ship's naming was "by no means unprecedented." In 2002, the United States Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships . The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics , which became known as the Independence -class littoral combat ship after the first ship of the class, USS Independence (LCS-2) . Even-numbered U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are built using
10137-596: The ship. Also included were upgrades to many of the electronics and defense systems that the ship uses during deployments, to include an upgrade from the Global Command and Control System -Maritime (GCCS-M) to the Distributed Common Ground System -Navy (DCGS-N). On 30 January 2013, Carl Vinson commenced sea trials, marking her first time underway in seven months, since the ammo offload which ended on 29 June 2012. Upon returning from this underway period,
10246-427: The sixth named Omaha (LCS-12) . The Navy announced the name Manchester (LCS-14) in April 2013 Tulsa (LCS-16) the following June. On 11 March 2014, the Navy awarded contract options to fund construction of LCS-18 and LCS-20, the seventh and eighth ships in a 10-ship contract. In January 2015, Secretary Mabus announced the name of Charleston (LCS-18) . and Cincinnati (LCS-20)
10355-438: The time of the naming. Commander Iskra also wrote in a Time magazine editorial that the still-active Carl Vinson was named for a congressman responsible for barring women from combat roles in the Navy for nearly 50 years. In connection with the controversy, United States Senator Roy Blunt added an amendment to the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which required the Navy to report to Congress on how effectively it
10464-435: The yards at Bremerton Naval Station, Washington for a 28-month complex overhaul (COH). The carrier received her first COMNAVAIRPAC Battle "E" award for 1990. On 17 February 1994, the carrier, with Carrier Air Wing Fourteen embarked, departed for the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch . The carrier returned to Alameda on 17 August 1994, receiving her third Admiral Flatley Award for aviation safety. In 1995,
10573-506: Was adhering to established naming conventions. The resulting report highlighted a consistent record of making "occasional exceptions" to established ship-naming conventions, beginning in 1798 when Secretary Benjamin Stoddert broke with naming convention by naming one of the original six frigates of the United States Navy as USS Chesapeake . The report also noted that while Secretary Mabus considered honoring Giffords and other victims of
10682-671: Was announced that the Michigan State Spartans would play a regular season men's basketball game against the North Carolina Tar Heels on the flight deck of Carl Vinson on Veterans Day . On 11 November 2011, the inaugural Carrier Classic took place at the Naval Air Station North Island on San Diego Bay in Coronado , California . U.S. President Barack Obama was one of 8,111 people in attendance as
10791-682: Was awarded the Admiral Flatley Memorial Award for aviation safety for 1988. On 18 September 1989, the carrier departed Alameda to participate in PACEX '89, the largest peacetime naval exercise since the Second World War. During the exercise Carl Vinson operated in the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands , eventually leading a three-carrier battle group operation in the Sea of Japan and
10900-659: Was cancelled in November 2007, but reordered in May 2009, and laid down in December of that year as Coronado , shortly before Independence was launched. The development and construction of Independence as of June 2009 was running at more than 3 times budget. The total projected cost for the ship is $ 704 million. The Navy had originally projected the cost at $ 220 million. Independence began builder's trials in July 2009, three days behind schedule because of maintenance issues. A leak in
11009-623: Was criticized by cause-oriented group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan as well as Filipino youth leader Raymond Palatino and University of the Philippines political science professor Clarita Carlos . The ship docked in Hong Kong in the People's Republic of China on 22 May 2011 to take on supplies for her return to homeport San Diego, and to provide photo opportunities to the Chinese press. The ship returned to San Diego on 15 June 2011. On 21 June 2011, it
11118-461: Was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 23 December 2016, and commissioned the following spring on 10 June 2017, in Galveston, Texas . In 2002, the U.S. Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships . The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics , which became known as the Independence -class littoral combat ships after the first ship of
11227-550: Was drydocked in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for 13 months as the Navy spent more than $ 230 million to upgrade the ship. Post refit shakedowns continued into 2000. In February 2001, Carl Vinson hosted actors Gene Hackman, David Keith, Owen Wilson, and others for filming of the carrier scenes for the movie Behind Enemy Lines during intermediate pre-deployment underway workups. During this two-week period, Carl Vinson crewmembers and CVW 11 crews took part in
11336-409: Was first identified in 2019 in the second commissioned ship, Coronado . The solution to the issue was to replace the deck plate and shell plate with plates of thicker material. Austal making a statement that the cracks do not "pose a risk to the safety of Sailors on board the ships" and NAVSEA stating that the cracks do not affect the ships' ability to execute their missions; however, at least one of
11445-401: Was killed in the Tucson shooting that wounded Giffords in January 2011. During the ship's naming announcement on 10 February 2012, Secretary Mabus said that the Navy had chosen to name the ship Gabrielle Giffords because Rep. Giffords' name had become "synonymous with courage" and that the congresswoman had "inspired the nation with remarkable resiliency." The secretary also called the naming
11554-624: Was ordered to redirect from her current deployment in the North Atlantic Ocean to Haiti to contribute to the relief effort as part of Operation Unified Response . Upon receiving orders from USSOUTHCOM , the Carl Vinson battle group proceeded to Mayport, Florida where the ships loitered offshore to receive additional supplies and helicopters. The ships arrived off Port au Prince on 15 January 2010 to commence operations. CNN medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta , pediatric surgeon Henri Ford , and two Navy doctors removed
11663-424: Was scheduled to last 36 months. The ship moved out of dry dock to a pier side berth at Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard in May 2007. Carl Vinson commenced post-refueling sea trials on 28 June 2009 and returned to Naval Station Norfolk on 1 July 2009. The Navy accepted the carrier back into the fleet on 11 July 2009, after successful completion of her sea trials. In October 2009, Carl Vinson entered
11772-476: Was selected as one of the five finalists. Based on the Independence LCS trimaran hull, it features a slightly shorter flight deck for an aft section that can hold eight anti-ship missiles, an addition to the eight missile launchers in the forward section, for 16 total. The Austal Frigate design can feature an optional 16-cell Mk 41 VLS . For anti-submarine warfare, a variable depth sonar is planned as well as
11881-511: Was the completion of her evaluation of nuclear reactor operation. During this evaluation, the Naval Sea Systems Command embarks a team of proctors who put the ship's Reactor Department through a multitude of drills and exercises to test their ability to safely operate a nuclear reactor and to contain any casualty of the reactor as it occurs. This was completed on 1 July 2013. On 22 August 2014, Carl Vinson and assigned CVW-17 began
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